This Week In Travel

Okay, it’s “this every-other-week in travel,” but that doesn’t shorten as “TWIT notes,” so it stays. Here are a few of the items from the week(s) that I found interesting.

American Airlines And JetBlue Finally Partner

For as long as I can remember, there has been a rumor in the airline industry that American was going to buy JetBlue. It dates back to when American’s predecessor, US Airways, inexplicably traded its La Guardia shuttle slots to Delta for similar slots at Washington National and a bag of old golf balls. Ever since that time, American has been weak in the most important aviation market in the country. I’m not sure if the recently announced partnership is the first step or a permanent band-aid, but it should be good for both airlines’ customers.

The partnership with JetBlue certainly won’t solve AA’s worries, given JetBlue’s significant presence at JFK, which is everyone’s fourth favorite airport out of the three major ones in the New York City area. It does, however, provide some presence and increase its ability to offer additional international flights, since the JetBlue connecting traffic gives it better scale in the market. In the “for what it’s worth” column, the deal also benefits AA in Boston, where it has steadily been losing market share.

JetBlue’s probably the big winner, though. One of the knocks on the airline is its lack of international breadth, which a partnership with American will solve to some extent. The extent of the extent will come out after the airlines give us further details, including more insight into frequent flyer program reciprocity.

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